Derivative Financial Instruments - Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) ozt T	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) ozt T	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)
Derivative Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2016
Net transfer In (Out) of Level 3 (a)	$ (27,100,000)
Call options purchased to match the funding requirements	Call options are one, two and three year options
FGL purchases call options to fund the next index credit	One, two or three year call options to fund the next index credit
Spectrum Brands [Member]
Derivative Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Estimated amount of derivative net losses/gains to be reclassified from AOCI into earnings over the next twelve months	$ 4,800,000	$ 200,000
Spectrum Brands [Member] | Standby Letters of Credit [Member]
Derivative Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Standby letters of credit	0			$ 0
Spectrum Brands [Member] | Silver Commodity Swap Contract [Member]
Derivative Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Derivative Contracts Market Value	$ 400,000		$ 600,000
Derivative, Nonmonetary Notional Amount | ozt	20.0		31.0
Spectrum Brands [Member] | Interest Rate Contract [Member]
Derivative Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Derivative, Fixed Interest Rate	1.36%
Estimated amount of derivative net losses/gains to be reclassified from AOCI into earnings over the next twelve months	$ 200,000
Derivative, Notional Amount	$ 300,000,000		$ 300,000,000
Derivative, Remaining Maturity	4 months		6 months
Spectrum Brands [Member] | Foreign Exchange Contract [Member]
Derivative Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Derivative Contracts Market Value	$ 259,900,000		$ 224,800,000
Derivative net loss/gain	$ 4,400,000
Spectrum Brands [Member] | ERROR in label resolution.
Derivative Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Weight Of Raw Material Under Derivative Contract | T	5.1		6.7
Derivative Contracts Market Value	$ 9,800,000		$ 12,800,000
Estimated amount of derivative net losses/gains to be reclassified from AOCI into earnings over the next twelve months	1,300,000
Spectrum Brands [Member] | Foreign Exchange Forward [Member]
Derivative Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Derivative Contracts Market Value	$ 206,300,000		$ 131,400,000
Spectrum Brands [Member] | Bronze Commodity Contract [Member]
Derivative Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Weight Of Raw Material Under Derivative Contract | T	1.0		1.0
Derivative Contracts Market Value	$ 3,800,000		$ 4,000,000
Not Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member]
Derivative Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Derivative Asset, Fair Value, Gross Asset	34,100,000		25,900,000
Other assets [Member] | Not Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] | Call options [Member]
Derivative Financial Instruments [Line Items]
Derivative Asset, Fair Value, Gross Asset	$ 8,300,000		$ 5,900,000